Patent Document 1 discloses a linear light emitter that is used in a vehicle and configured so that light from a light source is emitted from the periphery of a rod-shaped body.
Patent Document 2 discloses another illumination device that is disposed in a passenger compartment and configured so that light from a light source is branched into a plurality of branching light transmission paths via a light transmission path, and the brightness of the illumination is adjusted individually for a plurality of locations.
However, in the linear light emitter of Patent Document 1 and the vehicle illumination device of Patent Document 2, a linear light emitter or branching light transmission path (optical fiber) must be employed for each illuminated location. For example, in order to project light from three locations, three linear light emitters (light guides) or optical fibers (light guides) are provided, and the structure becomes complex.
Furthermore, when illumination is provided from two locations, for example, in order to vary the brightness between light and dark, or to create a large or small range of illumination according to the object to be illuminated, two types of linear light emitters or optical fibers corresponding to each type of illumination must be made, and cost reduction is difficult to achieve.